


Something To Believe In

by TwistedLyssa



Series: Newsies College AU [1]
Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: F/F, M/M, katherine is an useless lesbian, not really useless but you get my point
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-07
Updated: 2018-09-07
Packaged: 2019-07-08 06:58:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15925256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwistedLyssa/pseuds/TwistedLyssa
Summary: During the project season in college, Katherine is desperately trying to find a model for her Photography class. When her crush and friend, Sarah Jacobs, knocks on her dorm door and tells her she'll be the model, Katherine accepts the offer.





	Something To Believe In

**Author's Note:**

> Since the whole fic is in Katherine's POV, all the italics are her thoughts  
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> I hope you like it, love from Portugal :D  
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> IG: @oflegcnds  
> Twitter: @femmegays  
> Tumblr: musicgays

**Katherine's project**

Katherine paced around her apartment. She had about two weeks to complete a project for her photography class, and she still hadn't found someone to model. That was plenty of time, but still, she needed time to edit and all. She didn't want to ask boys to do it because she found them particularly awful, and girls... that was a different story.

Someone knocked, and it startled Katherine. With her camera around her neck, she opened the door to her small college dorm, and it took all her strength to not pass out when she saw who knocked. It was Sarah, one of her classmates and her crush.

“Sa-Sarah, hi. What are you doing here? Oh, come in.”

Sarah followed Katherine to the only bed in the room. Katherine had been lucky to get a single dorm room, because if it had been double,she'd probably have gone crazy during the second week.

“You were one of the lucky ones. Single dorm.”

“Yeah. Also, exactly why are you here? Shouldn't you be doing the project for class?”

Sarah ran her eyes down Katherine, and at that moment Katherine prayed to the gods, because girls definitely weren't her strong suit.

“Bluntness to the rescue, huh? I'm here to help you with your project. You still need a model, don't you?”

_Gods,_ thought Katherine, _I asked for this to get better, not worse. What do you think you are doing?_ “I... how?”

“You only told your friend Davey, I know. He's my brother.”

_Okay, what is happening? Katherine, get yourself together, it's just a project._

Katherine scooted a little closer to Sarah. After all, Sarah would be half naked in front of her for hours, so what if their thighs were touching? “Okay. Did he tell the specifics about my project?”

“He only told me you needed a female model for one of your photography projects.”

_Oh, she didn't know about that part. Great._ “So, first of all, how comfortable are you in revealing clothing?”

“Depends on the clothes. What would I be wearing?”

“You'd wear a short black skirt and a black leather jacket to cover your... your...” Katherine just couldn't say it. So she pointed. And gestured.

“I'd wear a black skirt and a black leather jacket? That's it?”

“I won't photograph your face, so you don't really have to worry about it.”

“Cool, anything else?” Sarah smiled, and Katherine couldn't help but get lost in that damn smile. It made her insides melt (and if she was a piece of chocolate, her outsides would melt too).

“Yes. You'd also have a considerable amount of body paint on.” _Straight to the point, Kath. Unlike you. You're very much into girls. Not straight at all._

“Deal. I'll do it.”

_Okay, what did she just say?_

Katherine almost shut down. This had almost shut down her systems. Doing a very revealing photo shoot with her crush was probably not the best idea, but she desperately needed to have the photos taken now so that she could edit them properly.

“Does tomorrow sound good to you? We can head down to the studio after class, around six.”

“Are you sure no one is going to be there?”

_Really, Davey? Really? The only thing you told her was about the modelling?_ “I'm sure. I told Davey to make sure of it and he always follows through on his promises.”

Sarah got up and started to walk to the door, but a little bug in Katherine told her to do something she'd probably regret. “Do you have any plans for tonight? I thought that we could maybe discuss the project over dinner.” She was fidgeting so much it was unreal.

“Sure.”

“Does Chinese sound good?”

“Perfect.” And there it was. The damn smile that sent Katherine spiralling through four different dimensions in just seconds.

As soon as Sarah closed the door, Katherine reached for the phone. She _had_ to tell Davey about this.

“Hey, Kath.”

“Davey!”

“How did it go?”

“Damn, you don't wanna know how I'm doing?”

“Okay, how are you doing?”

“Very good, you?”

“Fine. So, how did it go?”

“She said yes!” Katherine was jumping around her dorm at that point.

“Oh my god. You actually did it!”

“And she's having dinner here with me tonight.”

“Katherine Plumber, I cannot believe you are going to be alone with my sister with more than one hour tomorrow, and today.”

“Speaking about tomorrow, is the door situation handled?”

“Yes, I have the lock just in case and I've made sure no one is gonna be walking around those halls.”

“You are literally the best friend ever! Oh, I need to order the food, it needs to be ready on time.”

“Bye, Kath. Good luck.”

“Bye, Davey.”

_Good luck? Okay, calm down._

She placed the order rather quickly, and she was extremely thankful they understood her, because she talked almost faster than the Flash could run.

***

_She should be arriving any time now,_ Katherine thought. And sure enough, she heard someone knocking on her door just seconds after.

She quite literally jumped from her place on the couch and opened the door. Lo and behold, Sarah stood there, in the same clothes as before _(of course, Katherine, why would she have changed clothes?)_ , but she looked even more beautiful than just two hours ago. Somehow.

“Sarah, come in. I hope you don't mind eating on the couch. The only table I have that isn't filled up with papers is the coffee table. At least we can watch some TV.”

“As I said before, it sounds perfect to me.”

While Katherine got some nice cutlery from a drawer set near the door, Sarah sat down on the couch and kicked off her heels. Katherine thought it was adorable.

“Hey, don't use those. I actually brought some metal forks. And knives. And spoons.”

“You're so cute when you ramble, did you know that?” said Sarah. Katherine just smiled and sat down next to Sarah, who was already checking out what was on. She opted for NBC and Brooklyn 99, one of their favourite shows.

“What do you want to start eating?”

“I want to start eating everything at once, but I know that's not possible, so I was thinking about that soup. It's calling to me.”

“I was thinking the same about these chicken noodles. Here's the soup and a quality spoon.”

After a while of eating non-stop and admiring the work NBC had done with Brooklyn 99, Sarah broke the silence. “So, can you tell me more about the project?”

“It's about LGBT+ pride. I have wanted to do a project about it for a really long time, and I finally got the chance! I'm so excited.”

“You literally glow when you talk about things you love.”

_Kath, calm the hell down._

“Thanks. So you will be covered in rainbows, a skirt, and a leather jacket for about an hour. What do you think?”

“Cool. Now, pay attention to the TV, Rosa is about to come out to her parents.”

“It's not like this is the millionth time we've seen this episode, but okay, I'll pay attention.”

_Oh God._ How would she get through tomorrow?

***

_Not him,_ Katherine thought. It was Jack Kelly. He was actually one of her friends, but she wasn't in the mood for his flirty personality. Especially because that was her last class before she had to pick everything up and go to the studio.

“How's Sarah?” he asked, smirking.

“How's Crutchie?”

“That's cruel, Kath.”

“That's the intention.”

He stopped walking, and she eventually did too. “Sorry, it's just I've got a lot on my mind. Also, how do you know about Sarah?”

“Who do you think is helping Davey guard the hallway this afternoon?”

“No. You aren't.”

“That's right. You're getting a free bodyguard, and he's yours truly. Crutchie is also tagging along. I couldn't convince him to stay in our dorm and get some rest.”

“If you act up, I'm stabbing you with one of the paintbrushes, and this is a promise.”

They both smiled and went opposite ways.

She sprinted to her Art History classroom. _Oh no, it's four. I need to be in the studio with Sarah before six. I'm not gonna be able to focus during this class whatsoever._

***

“Katherine, calm down. It's not like you're doing this live for everyone to see. Besides, if you need anything, I'll be around, and so will Jack.”

“Oh no, she just texted me, she's heading here.”

“Katherine, let me tell you, you're the most useless lesbian I have ever heard of. Now, if your ass isn't inside the studio in ten seconds, I'm physically dragging you there.”

“Okay, okay.”

She walked to a big black door and opened it, wheeling her little bag in.

Just after she had finished assembling everything, she heard a knock. “Sarah, come in. The door is open.”

Sarah walked in, wearing a T-shirt and leggings. Katherine told her to come wearing light clothes, because they were going to need to transition from one set of clothes to the other really fast. Sarah did. And it had send Katherine flying through the love dimension.

“Should we start?”

“Oh, before we do. I brought a small black bralette if you didn't want to reveal a lot. Do you want to use it?”

“No, it's not necessary, I'll be covered in paint. Besides, if people decide to stare at my boobs, it's not my fault.” Sarah smiled, grabbed the clothes, and went to a private corner to get dressed. _Oh God, oh God, oooooohhh God. Calm down, Kath._

Just two minutes later, Sarah was back, dressed in the jacket and the skirt.

“Could you stand on top of these newspapers? I'll get the paint and the brushes.”

Katherine quickly fetched the six big tubes of body-safe paint and six brushes she had in her bag (it's a suitcase, who am I kidding?).

Sarah looked around, admiring Katherine's work even before she started, and she found it adorable.

Katherine grabbed one of the brushes and started painting Sarah's... boobs. _I just... I can do this, just breathe._ “So what's your project? Everyone's doing theirs around this time of the year,” asked Katherine. She was trying to break the ice, even though they had known each other for years.

“I need to make a short film for my Video Editing class. I've written the script and have all the equipment, but I still haven't found anyone to be in it.”

“I can do it.” _Kath, what the hell are you doing?_

“You... you can?”

“Of course. You're doing this for me, it's only fair I repay you.”

A phone dinged. It was Katherine's. “Oh, sorry. Can I just see who it is? I'm done painting anyways, you can get used to the set.”

“Sure.”

Katherine ran to her phone to see who just texted her. It was Davey asking about the shoot. She told him she was about to take the photos, and they'd be out of the room in about one hour and a half.

“Who was it?”

“Your brother. He was asking about the shoot. I told him it was going well.” Katherine went behind the camera and turned it on. She focused on getting some clean shots of Sarah, so that they'd be easier to edit later.

“Speaking of my brother, there's this one thing I've been meaning to ask you.”

_No, not now. Not now, please. Why am I even nervous? I don't even know what she's going to ask me._ “Sure thing, what is it?”

“It's that... would you go on a date with me?”

_Information overload, Sarah._ She needed to focus, damn it. “I-uh... I'd go.” She thought about what Sarah had said and how about talking about Davey reminded her of this. “Hey, did Davey tell you about...?” She couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence, so she just gestured vaguely.

“He did. And so that you know, me too.”

“Okay, the photos are done. I brought some wipes and a robe.”

“What didn't you bring?”

“Common sense, probably.”

“Well, then.” Sarah smirked. To Katherine, it looked liked torture. “I think you're gonna love the script. It's about two girls who are in love. They get engaged at the end.”

“That's cool.”

“And guess who's playing your love interest?”

Katherine's jaw completely dropped. She didn't know if this was heaven, hell, or simply her life, because honestly, she wasn't able to differentiate at this point. “Oh. Who's directing it, then?”

“Crutchie. He needs some extra credit. Oh, and Jack's helping him do it.”

“Thank God, at least he won't be flirting with me.”

Sarah moved closer to Katherine. Their noses were touching. “But I will. Every damn minute.” She cupped Katherine's face and placed a soft kiss to her lips. Katherine just couldn't help it, so she pulled Sarah by her waist and didn't let go. Well, except when she needed to breathe.

“Good.”

“Okay, okay. We need to go,” said Katherine. Sarah frowned, but even then she was cute.

“It's a good thing you brought a robe, because we definitely don't have time to wipe all this paint off.”

“I could help you with that.”

“I like it. Maybe later. Or just some intense cuddling.”

Katherine walked to the suitcase and put everything inside. The tripod wasn't hers, it was the school's, so she just left it there for someone else to use. When glanced at the mirror, she noticed a rainbow handprint on both cheeks, courtesy of Sarah.

“I think you shouldn't wipe those out just yet.”

“Yeah. Besides, I really want to see Crutchie's reaction. Jack said he'd be around.”

“Let's traumatize these idiots.”

When they got out of the studio, it didn't surprise them at all to see Jack and Crutchie cuddling on the stairs.

“Hey, idiots.”

The boys paused their cuddling/youtube binging to look at the two girls. Everything about their look left Crutchie speechless.

“So, you two?” Jack asked.

Katherine and Sarah pointed to Katherine's face, which was almost covered in rainbows. Both boys nodded and everyone left the hall to meet Davey in Katherine's dorm.

**Sarah's project**

“So,” said Davey, “why did Sarah come out of the studio in a robe? And why does Katherine have two big rainbow hands on her face?”

Katherine was sitting on her bed, and Sarah rested her head on her lap. Pointing at her current situation, Sarah answered, “Isn't this obvious?”

“She has a point.”

“Cheerful as always, Crutchie.”

Katherine whispered something in Sarah's ear, who nodded right after. “Guys, Sarah and I want some time alone. Would you mind... leaving?”

The boys smirked. Jack and Crutchie left not long after Katherine's request, and Katherine could just tell they were eager for some time alone too. Davey lingered back.

“Kath, you better not hurt my sister, or I'll kill you.”

“I'm pretty sure she'd kill me first. Go.”

“Okay, okay.” Davey left without saying another word, leaving Katherine and Sarah alone.

“I have an idea.”

“You always have ideas. Good ones.”

Katherine jumped out of the bed and sat on the couch. She patted the pillows next to her and Sarah sat just right next to her.

“I was thinking we could run some lines. Or blocking. Either way, I haven't read your script yet.”

“Good thing I brought a copy in my bag.” Sarah's bag was right in front of her, so she quickly fished out a bunch of papers kept together by a pink binder clip. “Here. The film's supposed to be around ten minutes long, so you still have to remember some lines. Not many, though. The film will rely heavily on editing effects.”

“You seem to forget I've been doing musical theatre since freshman year of high school. I can do this.”

“Cool. The story will revolve around a picnic table. We can do the blocking with this coffee table. I just need... oh, your desk chair is perfect.” Sarah grabbed the blue chair and put it in front of Katherine.

“You know you're cute when you ramble too, right?”

Sarah sat down on the chair and just smiled. “Thanks. The beginning of the film is actually voiced by a narrator, but it shows the two of us, so it's just blocking.”

Katherine flipped through the script. Wow. Sarah had some major writing skills, no wonder her other elective was Creative Writing. She was amazing at it. “Who am I? Adria or Lyssa?”

“You're Adria.”

“And how exactly are we supposed to act?”

“Imagine that we're on a date. Simple as that.”

But it wasn't that simple. Katherine's heart almost gave out when they kissed, so acting like they're on a date? Her head would explode.

“Okay.”

And just like that, the hours flew by. Katherine didn't have many lines, but her character did have an interesting personality, one she was excited to explore.

They were drawn back into reality when Sarah's phone rang. It was Davey, and Katherine looked absolutely petrified. It was almost two in the morning! How the hell did that happen?

“Hey, Davey! Everything okay?”

“Where the hell are you? It's almost two in the morning! It was supposed to be lasagna night today. Late night, Jack and Crutchie spent an hour convincing Spot and Race to come too. I gave your roommate some leftovers. Not sure if she hasn't eaten them already, though.”

“I'm so sorry! When you left, Katherine and I started to run some lines, and I guess we just got carried away. Oh, is your recording already on the pendrive?”

“It is. And I'm sorry too. I didn't realize you stayed with her, I thought you wandered around and were doing drugs in a dark alley. Have you eaten anything?”

“We had some Chinese leftovers from yesterday, and you know I'd never do that. Have you told Jack and Crutchie to meet us at the park at four tomorrow?”

“Yes, I have. And I couldn't get Spot and Race to back off when I mentioned it, so they're coming too.”

“That's okay. I'll bring Smalls, then. I'm gonna sleep now. See you!”

“Bye.”

Katherine still looked petrified. Luckily, Sarah hung up and just smiled.

“Don't be scared. I can stay the night.”

“Perfect.”

***

It was four, and everyone was gathered in the park, sitting in a circle. The college park was almost empty, which was cool, because it would be easier to film only the faces they were supposed to.

“Spot, Race, and I are supposed to just chill around?” asked Smalls.

“Yeah. Crutchie will be directing, Jack will help him, Davey will be tech support and I already have his recording. Katherine and I will be the main girls.”

“Everyone, positions!” yelled Crutchie. He was beaming. He was really happy to be in charge of something, especially because most professors didn't thing a guy with a crutch would be a good leader. Or a good anything at all.

And just like that, everyone was in position. Sarah and Katherine sat down at the picnic table. Spot, Race and Smalls played with a soccer ball. Jack, Crutchie and Davey were behind the camera, ready to roll.

The first few takes were easy, they were just acting all cutesy-tootsy and being all lovey-dovey. That was easy for Katherine. But there was a hard scene coming up, the hardest one in the entire ten-minute script. More specifically, a proposal.

“Alright guys, ten minute break. We'll shoot the last scene right after.”

Sarah got up, sat down next to Katherine, and leaned on her shoulder. “I see you're worried about that scene.”

“It's just... I don't want it to change anything about this thing we have.”

“You mean a relationship?”

“We started dating yesterday, and we're gonna film a proposal scene.”

Sarah caressed Katherine's leg. _Oh no, please stop,_ thought Katherine, _don't start now, please._

“I promise it won't change anything about us, and I'll kill Crutchie if we have to do too many takes. Besides, I still need to take you on that date, remember?”

Katherine smiled. Yeah, they still had a date they needed to go on, and she just couldn't wait.

“Everyone on! We're doing the last scene!”

Sarah made sure the ring was in her back pocket when the cameras started rolling.

It was going well, Katherine hadn't freaked out, but then Sarah kneeled. And that's when the tears started. _This is too much, I can't._

She barely paid attention at what happened after she said yes. Sarah grabbed her hand, slid the ring on and looked at her. “Hey, lovebug.” Katherine smiled. “Everything's okay.”

_Why haven't the cameras stopped rolling? Crutchie, we agreed on this!_

Katherine placed a soft kiss to Sarah's lips, and that's when everyone heard Crutchie yell.

“Good job, everyone!”

“I was thinking,” started Sarah, “we could have dinner here. The sun is still up, we have some food here and we can order more. Is everyone okay with that?” Everyone nodded.

Katherine looked at her girlfriend in awe. She was so lucky to have her by her side. And that date was happening soon.

 


End file.
